In the Beginning

The quest for real property ownership by African Americans began immediately after emancipation. Even though free people of color were able to purchase real property in the South, their numbers were few and many states erected barriers that either prohibited land ownership by African Americans or imposed strict limitations on their ability to purchase real property. In the absence of de jure restrictions, there were de facto impediments that came in the form of violence against African Americans who either made land purchases or attempted to make such purchases and the outright refusal by Whites to sell land to them. Despite the many barriers and challenges faced by those who sought to own land, African Americans saw land ownership as a pathway to independence, and a confirmation of their freedom. The Civil War period brought many legislative enactments that ostensibly provided recently enslaved African Americans with opportunities for the acquisition of real property. These efforts served as the primary basis for the belief that African Americans would receive “forty acres and a mule” at the conclusion of the Civil War. Opponents to African American’s quest for land ownership were vehement in their efforts. This article reviews the African American drive for land ownership, barriers to their aspirations, and how congressional land reform efforts provided hopes for land ownership that were soon shattered by a president who was sympathetic to the former confederates and intent on dismantling legislative enactments that benefited the newly freed African Americans.